First Time Off
by Mihasel
Summary: Could be Worse Verse', set right after Things Could be Worse and Play Time. "Where is your first mission, Dean?""Uhm…M7G-6..something I dunno. Why?" "Ah! Isn't that–" "Yes, Rodney. Don't spoil the fun." Sheppard's eyes were gleaming mischievously. Dean has his first mission off-world...


_**Could be Worse – Short Story – First Time Off**_

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Supernatural, Stargate Atlantis or Stargate SG-1. I don't own any characters nor I making any profit from it.

 **Warnings:** Language.

 **Notes:** SGA/SPN Crossover. SGA – Early second season, after Trinity; SPN – Pre series, completely AU.

Third short story in the _**Could be Worse Verse'**_. Set right after _**Thing could be worse**_ , and **Play Time** , but before _**When Things go South**_ _._

So another one-shot, this one it's more… fluffy than the others. And maybe…close to a song-fic?

You should listen to the song " _The Devil went down to Georgia"_ while reading this fanfic _._ ;)

I do hope you like it…let me know what do you think. Your reviews make me happy.

 _Thank you_ _ **Lizbug**_ _, you're a wonderful beta-reader!_

 _Enjoy! ^-^_

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 **First Time Off**

Lieutenant Neal Kemp was a good guy, terrible poker player, but one of the few team leaders who held up his hand when Doctor Weir asked who was willing to take another civilian in their teams.

Of twelve team leaders just Lorne and Kemp did it.

Sheppard had risen his hand too, but the leader of the Atlantis expedition dismissed his offer in a heartbeat. Their team was the most troublesome, she didn't want to add another troublemaker in the mix.  
Major Lorne and his marines were, most of the times, responsible for rescuing Sheppard's group and for obvious reasons they were out of the question too. Therefore the choice fell on the young lieutenant.

Kemp wasn't bothered by it.

He had seen firsthand that their new guy wasn't a simple civilian: he had beat him on the mat, helped Colonel Sheppard in the other dimension, he had an encounter with the Wraith and he lived to tell the tale.

In his book those were damn good reasons to have him in his team.

The lieutenant and the other marines of his team played the late-night poker, sparred in the gym and took some patrol shifts with their new recruit around the city. They all knew Dean. The guy had a charming personality–when he wanted and especially when a woman was around–, he was a good fighter, excellent shooter, a decent jumper pilot, a quick learner and a damn good hustler. If shit hit the fan during a mission, Winchester and his strange skillset could come in handy.  
However, other than his love for classic rock, movies and his car, Kemp didn't know much of their new recruit, but he trusted his gut.

When the lieutenant told Dean he was on his team, Dean just grinned and asked when they were scheduled to go off-world. Despite the previous incident in the lab, he was eager to step over the Stargate and explore the weirdness of the Pegasus Galaxy.

That was the right spirit in their expedition.

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It was a splendid day, for Dean's first mission off-world.

Yes, he had flown with Sheppard near Lantea's moon and done the simulations with Ronon, but this would be the first time he actually stepped a foot on another planet. He was thrilled.

Dean was allowed to take his weapons, even if it was a simple medical mission, because dangers were always around the corner. The sensation of the cold metal of his Desert Eagle on his back and the roughness of the two knives in his boots were so familiar that he had missed them. For many months he had felt naked without his weapons.

When he got in the jumper bay, ready for the departure he found the lieutenant and other two marines lazily sitting in the jumper.

The fifth member of their group was late.

Doctor Beckett was supposed to go on M7G-677. Instead, he was still packing several bags in the medical bay.

"Doc, are you ready?"

"Oh! What a lovely surprise lad. Come here, help me with this bags."

Dean was a bit short of breath after sprinting to the medical bay to fetch the good doctor. "You know Doc, it was 08.00 a.m. in the jumper bay. We're late."

"Aye… but I remembered the last time I went there. I need to be prepared for those little hellhounds."

"Hellhounds!?" Yes, Dean had packed salt, his silver knife, a match and a small vial of a powerful accelerant, but he didn't have anything to fight hellhounds. Hell, he didn't know how to see one of them for that matter, he just knew the legends and some old hunter reports about them.

Carson shot a curious look at Dean, then smiled. "Aye, those kids can throw quite a tantrum."

"Kids...yeah, right."

So there were some kids in the village they would visit, just as in every other place he guessed, no big deal. Dean was glad he didn't have to face real hellhounds on his first mission off-world.  
Cursing in his mind, he reminded himself that he was in another galaxy and _his kind_ of problems were less likely to happen or probably nonexistent at all.

Right…. Just like the ghost he had encounter in another dimension.

His luck sucked.

The Scottish doctor asked him if he knew how to do a vaccination and Dean nodded. It was a medical mission after all, he might need some help with his job, and Dean had plenty of experience during his years of patching up his father after a hunt and taking care of his little brother. If Beckett had some problems over a few kids he could do it in his place.

Some doctors weren't cut out to deal with children.

Dean didn't think it likely that Doctor Beckett was one of them unlike Doctor Biro who struck him as being really bad with kids, and with everyone else for that matter: that woman was surely a competent doctor… just not so great in her bedside manners.

Dean took the bags, and began to walk toward the jumper bay with Carson on his heels. While walking, Carson began to explain about the case of flu that had hit the village they were about to visit. It was a pretty common type of flu on Earth, but it was almost deadly in the Pegasus Galaxy.

"Everyone ready?" Lieutenant Kemp was in the pilot seat, while Carson and Dean were in the rear.

A choir of " yes sir" and " aye" echoed in the jumper. Dean had witnessed several departures, but it was hard not to stare at the pool of luminescent water that appeared every time they dialed the Stargate. And, given the fact that McKay had explained, in the most vivid way, what would happen to his body once he stepped through, he felt, once again, freaked out.

The travel was swift, he held his breath for mere seconds, and then they were on another planet full of trees and a clear blue sky. Dean felt a cold rush of adrenaline when he faced the other side of the Stargate; it was such an amazing experience he almost wanted to do it again.

His enthusiasm and surprise had to be evident because Carson nodded to him. "Don't worry lad, you get used to it."

After parking the jumper near the Stargate, the team went out, heading for the village. The huge forest ahead reminded him of the Linnton Park in Portland were he had to chase a nasty Wendigo for two weeks. It was one of the reasons he didn't really like to camp in a forest.

At the edge of the forest some people popped behind the trees; five kids all with tiny clothes made of fur and yarn, bows and arrows pointed at them. The youngest, holding a spear, was probably six years old. They approached, Carson greeted the eldest and that was enough for the others to put away their weapons.

Dean looked at them in disbelief, then it came to his mind one of the older reports.

They were on a medical mission on M7G-677, it had to be the designation for the planet full of kids. There weren't just few children around, all the people here were younger than him.

"Son of.." He stopped in midsentence as all the other members of the team glared back, daring him to finish the sentence, while the children just looked curious at his outburst.

New rule. No swearing around the kids.

 _Great, it's just freak-fucking-fantastic!_

If he couldn't swear out loud, he would damn well do it in his mind.

As the group walked through the forest two kids approached him. They were a boy and a girl, and they had almost the same height: one had blond hair the other black, both had two little bows on their shoulders. If it wasn't for the metal arrowhead on the tip of their arrows, they could easily pass as toys.

Dean couldn't believe that this kids were acting as an escort for them.

"I'm Dean, what's your name, sweetheart?"

"I'm Cleo," the petite girl said with a huge grin on her face.

"I'm Dalen." The boy had, instead, a deep frown.

"Dalen says you look like an elder, but you are younger than the other men. Are you one of their kids?"

"What?! No way."

The two marines ahead just laughed at the comeback, while Carson was still talking with one of the teen with a spear.

The little girl kept glancing at him. "Do you have any kids? Keras has a bunch of them in the northern village, most elders have one or two children."

"Nope, who's Keras?"

"One of the elders, he is a friend of Sheppard." Dalen wasn't so fond of the lovey dovey eyes Cleo was doing to the stranger.

Dean grinned, he had seen how the boy looked subsequently at her and at him. It was funny to see that some things never change, no matter what was the planet. Or the Galaxy.

Dean came closer to the boy. "Hey kid, don't worry the chick is all yours, you just have to tell her."

Dalen shot a wary look, before blushing and going ahead toward the village.

Cleo looked at her new friend. "Dalen is Casta's younger brother, he is ill. Are you here to help him?"

He glanced once again at the young boy running ahead. The kid looked at Carson with so much hope and apprehension that he reminded him of Sammy. Dean had been feverish because of a bad case of flu, and his little brother did the only thing he could think of: he took Dean to a hospital. They were just children back then, and their Dad had been away for a hunt. He still remembered Sammy's worried look as he told the doctor how ill he had been for several days, how Sam begged with his huge puppy eyes to help them.

Dalen was a good kid.

"Yeah, we're here to help. Don't worry, sweetheart."

As they strolled through the forest, they finally arrived at the village. Seeing that most of it was built on the trees made Dean smile. These little guys were resourceful. It was like suddenly being transported in Neverland, he half expected to see a guy wearing green tights and call himself Peter Pan.

The Atlantis' team got in the middle of the settlement, and doctor Beckett took a while to assess the situation. A dozen of the children were ill, and some of the teens as well. Overall Carson had twenty-three patients. The Scottish set up, as fast as he could, a medical tent: they had to work on a vaccination program for those who didn't show any symptoms, and they had to take care of the most serious cases. Since the flu wasn't so dangerous for the team, they all helped with the patients.

Just to be on the safe side, they sent a radio transmission back to Atlantis to report the situation. Carson was optimistic, he had all his equipment with him and he had seen worst cases back home. He asked permission for him and the team to stay for a couple of days, and Doctor Weir agreed.

They spent the whole day doing vaccinations and checking on each patient.

In the evening of the second day, Dean was able to round up a group of boys and girls, six of them with the flu, all in the same treehouse. He checked their temperature and covered them with blankets from the cold, but the kids were restless, asking him about Atlantis or his planet.

It was like turning the clock all over again and check on his little brother when he was very young and got the flu. Shifting in the bed, without appetite, covered in so many blankets that seemed he was making a little fort by himself, and in the end always asking Dean to read something for him.  
It had happened so many time that at one point Dean had wondered if Sammy wasn't doing it on purpose.

Or at least that occurred until he started to going to school.

A little girl, coughing from her bed, with huge puppy eyes spoke in a timid voice. "Can you tell us a story?"

All the kids in the room went quite for a minute before backing up her request. They jumped from their beds and cuddle together on two beds. Six kids in less than a minute were able to make such a confusion that looked like a hurricane stepped in the room.

"Wow! Slow down kids!"

The children started to whine.

"Ok! Ok! I'll tell you a story, just let me cover you first."

Dean took the quilts from the other beds and covered the kids in warmth blankets. Three boys were on a bed, while three girls were on the other one. They all had the flu, but it seemed they were well enough to throw a tantrum if he didn't tell them a story… just like his little brother when they were young.

Dean had a nostalgic smile.

It was one of the biggest rooms and there were several object on the ground: toys and musical instruments made of wood, books in a strange alphabet, and –of course– bows and arrows. Those children…They were a group of mini Robin Hoods.

Dean couldn't help himself, in less than two days he had grown fonder of them.

He made room for himself, and sat on a chair between the two beds; gazing at all of them. The candles were lit up, and with all the windows closed it made for a warm and cozy atmosphere.

"Ok, let's see…" It was ages since he had to tell a story, what he could possibly tell them?  
Should he talk about one of his hunt?  
Dean dismissed it right away, too scary for this kids. It was better something funny and cunning. As his eyes wandered around the room he came up with an idea. He took something from the ground, the shape was similar to a banjo or an ukulele. He played some notes as he was playing the guitar. The sound was different, more gentle like that of an harp.

"What is this?"

"It's a Siddle!" Casta replied in a cheerful manner.

"Uhm..ok" Dean had never heard that term, but for him it was just a mini guitar.

"Tell us a story!" the choir of boys grew impatient.

"Ok, ok! You little…brats" the last part he just murmured for himself.

"There was a guy…"

"No! You're doing it wrong!" Casta set up on the bed, like he was scolding a child. "A story always begin with "Once upon a time" everyone knows that."

Dean almost began to rebuke but the children were all staring in his direction with an intense expression on their faces.

He was outnumbered. Damn little devils.

After taking a deep breath, he began again. "Once upon a time there was a young man…"

"Was he handsome?" said another little girl with red hair.

"…Yes… he was a young and handsome man with blond hair and green eyes. He lived in a town in Georgia…"

One of the boys started to ask another question, but Dean threw him a hard glare and the boy didn't utter a sound.

"He was playing a fi… a Siddle and he was very good at it." Dean pinched some of the cords, and the children just listened without any other complain.

"…But one day the devil came in his town…"

"You mean a Wraith?" The youngest girl asked in fear.

Dean observed her and the other kids, despite the anxiety about those creatures they were hanging at his words. They only heard stories about Wraiths and their atrocities, no wonder when he said "devil" they jumped to that conclusion.

A pang of sadness filled him. They were just children.

Yes, he didn't have what one would call an apple-pie childhood, but this was beyond that. This kids lived their entire brief life knowing only the treat of the Wraith and that they would die on their twenty-fifth birthday. Thanks to Sheppard and his team, they had convinced the elders that it wasn't necessary to commit suicide anymore. The Atlantis team gave a new hope to this people. This children deserved to have a somewhat normal, peaceful childhood.

Dean couldn't do much for them, but he would at least give them a damn good story.

"Yes it was a Wraith, he was hungry but… he was also proud and a jacka–an arrogant creature."

The kids looked at him with captivated eyes.

"He challenged the boy, saying that he could play the Siddle better than him. He bet his golden Siddle in exchange for the boy's … life."

A choir of "ooo" and "ahh" filled the room, the kids were so engrossed in the story that they didn't seem to feel the dizziness and the aches from the flu.

"The young boy thought about it and said: My name is Johnny, and it might be a sin,  
but I'll take your bet; and you're gonna regret it… because I'm the best there's ever been."

Dean did a thick southern accent and kept telling the story of Johnny and the evil Wraith, and how both of them played their mini guitars. On each part where the Wraith and Johnny had to perform he used the Siddle near him to play a song. Since his little public didn't know much of rock songs he played a few notes of _The Devil went down to Georgia_ for the Wraith and _Carry on my Wayward son_ for Johnny's part.

"The Wraith bowed his head, he knew that he'd been beat. He laid the golden Siddle on the floor and walked away without taking his life.

Johnny kept playing, daring the thing to try it again.

But the Wraith knew he had lost, and it left without any trace.  
The End."

Half of the kids were already asleep, while the other giggled at the conclusion of the story.

"Thank you." the redhead girl whispered from under the sheets.

"You are welcome, princess. Now go to sleep, ok?"

She nodded, and he blew out the candles near their beds leaving only three around the corners of the room. The few of them still awake soon closed their eyes as well and went to sleep. As Dean turned toward the entrance he saw Doctor Beckett and Lieutenant Kemp on the threshold. Dean scowled while he approached the two men.

"You're very talented, son. You're a natural with kids."

"Wasn't that tale the song _The Devil went down to Georgia_?"

Beckett was the first to talk, while Kemp was just curious about Dean's choice of bedtime story.

Dean sighed. "How long have you been listening?"

"We were passing by to see if you needed help and we heard you play." Carson couldn't understand why he was making such a face.

Kemp nodded. "Come on, don't look like that! You were really good both with that instrument and the children. You're way better than McKay, he is terrible with kids!"

Dean winced. "How are the other kids?"

"I think the worst has passed, they just need to take rest and stay warm." Carson replied in a heartbeat. He could see that Dean didn't know how to take a compliment.

"When are we due back?" Dean looked at the clock on his wrist.

"Tomorrow morning" the lieutenant promptly replied.

Kemp had a huge smile on his face, like he was preparing to tease him a little more.

"Copy that, good night." He blew out another candle and closed the door.

Beckett and Kemp stayed a couple of seconds out there perplexed by that sudden reaction. Dean had just shut himself away, prickly spines out like a hedgehog. However, the fact that the young man had decided to stay in the room to check on their little patients over the night was another surprise for the two men.

He really cared for those children.

In the morning they departed for the 'Gate, and once again Dalen and Cleo were part of their escort. The two of them approached Dean. "Is it true that you told a story last night?"

"Casta said it was funny."

"Yeah."

"I want to hear it too!" the petit girl pouted.

"Cleo is right, we want to hear the story too." Dalen nodded vigorously.

"Maybe next time." Dean tried to pacify them.

"Really? Is it a promise?"

Dean kept walking, but Cleo and Dalen's puppy eyes did the trick. He sighed, defeated. "Sure, next time. I promise."

"Yay!" The two kids hugged him with their tiny hands around him, and Dean stood still.

The marines, Kemp and Carson watched the scene with a bit of amusement, but kept going toward the jumper without crossing his eyes. Dean patted the children's heads until the hug was over.  
They nodded one last time to him and left, returning with swift steps in the forest.

A small, fond smile appeared on Dean's lips. "Brats."

He shook his head, joined the team in the jumper and headed back to Atlantis.

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Sheppard read Lieutenant Kemp's report and Beckett's too. Dean's report wasn't as funny as theirs. Apparently, the kid did great in his first mission off-world, and Kemp's team was already fond of him.  
Keras' people were doing great, and the cases of flu were under control.

Things seemed to be better on their planet.

Walking in the alley of Atlantis he crossed path with Dean. A small smile appeared on John's face. "So I heard you did a good job on M7G-677."

"What's wrong with you people and the naming thing? Can't you just call it Disneyworld?" He coughed a few times.

John smiled at the amusing remark. "I'm not sure the military and the IOA would agree with you, but I can ask."

"Never mind." Dean was a little pale and kept coughing.

John frowned. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, just a cold. I only need my bed."

"You know if you want I can tell you a bedtime story, kiddo."

"Sure, and we can braid your hair and paint our nails. Bite me, Shep." He started to walk away and John followed him.

"I heard you played some sort of guitar pretty well, and the kids adore you."

"What can I say? I'm fucking awesome." They arrived at his room, and Dean swiftly closed the door behind him.

Sheppard stood there with a grin on his face. Teasing Dean was almost as much fun as teasing Rodney. "Just so you know Elizabeth was very pleased by the team's reports. You'll keep going off-world."

The door opened again. "Yeah? Any chance I'll come with you someday? I heard your team takes all the fun."

"Naa… just most of it…" Sheppard scratched his head "We'll see."

"Wanna bet? Maybe a poker hand?"

John laughed. "Ah…kiddo, you're funny. Tell you what, if you beat Zelenka once, I'll ask to Doctor Weir."

"And if I lose?"

A cheshire-cat smile appeared on Sheppard's face. "You'll play the guitar Friday night in the mess hall."

Dean pondered for a while, then he grinned too. "You're on."

He closed his door, and crashed on the bed. Dean wasn't so well: he had a headache, he felt hot and his cough didn't stop. Yep, definitely the flu.

In spite of that, he was able to take a bet from Sheppard. He grinned, he'd already seen Zelenka's gameplay several times. Radek was good, but Dean had found his poker tell. Dean wondered how many times he could raise the stake, before they figured it out.

The tune of _The Devil went down to Georgia_ filled his mind, along with the smiling faces of those children.

Dean chuckled to himself. No matter what, he was the best.

The End.


End file.
